Don't Leave: The Brother's Curse oneshot
by TheRoseOfGryffindor
Summary: The conversation that took place the night Sirius left Grimmauld Place


It was just past two in the morning at number twelve Grimmauld Place. Sirius quietly shut the door to his room, and then with a small smirk opened it back up. Why hide the fact he was gone? He walked down the hall towards the stairs that lead to freedom. He paused in front of the door with the sign posted saying "Do not enter without the express permission of Regulus Arcturus Black" something inside of him burned. He thought of the little black haired toddler who he had played with, the young boy who had yearned to be in Slytherin and came to him the night before his first year at Hogwarts and sat on his bed, and they had talked all night, not getting any sleep at all. Maybe he should at least leave a letter saying where he was going.

"So you're going to just leave, not even say goodbye to mother?"

Sirius jumped about two feet in the air. There, leaning against the railing that edged the path to the stairs, was his little brother Regulus.

"What are you doing up so late?" the question came too naturally. He had been keeping an eye on his little brother far too long not to ask him why he was out of bed at such an unearthly hour.

"Waiting for you" he replied.

"But how did you know I was leaving?"

"You're not terribly great at being discreet Sirius, you never were. And besides, you're my brother, I know these sort of things" Regulus said awkwardly. He didn't want to admit that there was that much of a link between him and his overbearing brother.

Sirius winced. He knew what Regulus meant, they were brothers, despite the gulf between them, that would never change.

"You really should at least leave a letter for mother" Regulus said. "I don't mind you trying to leave without letting me know. We never did get along very well, but you owe our mother some courtesy."

"What do I owe any of you?" Sirius snapped back. "All any of you have ever tried to do is control me and tell me what I should do and who I should be, none of you have ever approved of anything I've ever done, and you know what I don't care anymore!"

"Shh… you'll wake mom and dad up" Regulus chided.

"I don't care."

"I thought you were trying to escape without them knowing?"

"Right, and I'm leaving right now!"

"Then go, and good riddance. We don't need you, we're happier without you, just go you selfish overbearing stupid inconsiderate barbaric muggle-loving bore! See if any of us even mention your name again." Regulus tried to pass his brother to get into his room.

"Don't stress your vocabulary there little brother."

"You're no brother of mine, you won't even show our parents the courtesy you would a stranger, you're so self-centered it's sickening!"

"No, you guys are the ones that are sickening, all that rot about pureblood supremacy, and you just thrived on it."

"We're different Sirius, that's why we haven't been able to get along for most of our lives but…" he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "What I am trying to say is that we will miss you, and that I wish you weren't going, I can't stand you but it is just going to be wrong not having you around here. Don't leave Sirius."

"Touching speech Reggie, but save it for someone who actually cares" and with that Sirius brushed past his brother towards the staircase.

"You" Regulus said in a powerful voice "I hope your life is filled with pain and thwarted ambition, may you be robbed of what you carelessly tossed away and I pray that you never find peace or happiness in your life, may you suffer all your life for your ignobleness!" Regulus' voice was so deep and ominous that Sirius could do nothing but speed his departure. He practically ran out of the house.

Outside Grimmauld Place he brushed the goosebumps off of his arms. Something about Regulus' blood-chilling malediction had felt like some form of curse or portent about the future. It made him shiver to think of it.

For three nights straight Sirius could not sleep. Regulus' parting words would haunt him all of his life, he never ever forgot what his brother had said to him that night, and it frequently made him quake and shiver to think about how all of his words had come true.


End file.
